Dry shaver



Nov. 26, 19.

(-3.v DALKOWITZ DRY sHAvER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 5, 1956 lMl. h. :I

INVENTOR,

'wlrey Dalkowiz, BYl I Nov. 256, 1940.

G. DALKowl-rz DRY sHAvER `2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed De. 5, 1936 INVENTOR.

Patented Nov. 26, 1940 UNITED STATES rxaminer PATENT OFFICE DRY SHAVER Application December 5, 1936, Serial No. 114,297

Claims.

This invention relates to dry shavers of the type in which a movable cutting member moves relatively to another member to cut hair by a shearing operation, and more specically to that 5 type of dry shaver in which one of the two relatively movable members is moved in contact with, and directly across, the face in the shaving operation.

Among the more important objects of my invention are the following: the provision of a member, the face engaging surface of which is dished or provided with a cup or depression; the provision of teeth in the face engaging member, the top surface of which is inclined to the normal to form a cup or depression therein; the provision of such teeth, the nether surface of which is inclined to the normal at a greater angle than the top surfaces of the teeth; the provision in the stationary cutting member of a dry shaver, of teeth in the form of pyramidal frustrums, the axes of which project upwardly;

the provision of a stationary face engaging cutting member having turretlike teeth upwardly projecting in opposite directions; the provision of a cutting member having projecting pyramidal teeth, the facing sides of adjoining teeth being inclined to each other to form V-openings; the provision of said V-openings between teeth, the sides of which are inclined to each other; the provision in the face engaging cutting member of a dry shaver, of a shank portion from both sides of which project a plurality of teeth, the top edges of opposed teeth converging on a medial line of the shank, the point of intersection of the top edges of a pair of opposed teeth being spaced (on the said medial line) from the point of intersection of the adjoining teeth; the provision, in the cutting member of a dry shaver, of teeth the sides of which are inwardly converging and downwardly inclined; a new arrangement of the stationary cutting member and the movable cutting member, together with a guard member sheathing the coacting teeth of the said members; an improved contour and shape of guard teeth protecting the face from direct contact with the coacting cutting teeth of the two relatively movable cutting members.

'I'he general object of my invention is the provision of a new and improved dry shaver by which the shaving operation can be more effectively performed.

For the attainment of these objects and such other objects as may hereinafter appear or be pointed out, I have illustrated an embodiment i6 of my invention in the drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a, plan view of a shaving head of a dry shaver, showing the outside guard teeth and the teeth of the face engaging, cutting member; the gure is broken away to further show the teeth of the underlying movable cutting 5 member;

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the shaving head shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows, and showing the upper face engaging cutting member, the inner movable cutting member and the outer guard member;

Figure 4 is an exploded isometric view, showing, from top to bottom, the face engaging, stationary cutting member, the movable cutting member, and the base member of the shaving head, the latter comprising as part thereof the guard teeth;

Figure 5 is a detail of one form of guard teeth;

Figures 6 and 7 show a modified form of guard teeth;

Figure 8 is a section (taken on the same lines as Figure 3) of a modified form in which the teeth of the stationary member are brought close to the guard member; and

Figure 9 is a perspective View on an enlarged scale showing the construction of the teeth of the stationary cutter.

In the accompanying drawings I show only the head of the dry shaver, it being understood that this head is to be associated with a suitable handle and operating mechanism to be contained therewithin and which in the illustrated embodiment will operate the inner cutting member.

While I will now proceed to describe the detailed construction of the embodiment shown in the drawings, it will be understood that, as this embodiment is only for purposes of illustrating one of the many possible embodiments employing my invention, my invention will not be limited by such description except as called for by the prior art.

As shown in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings. the shaving head of my improved dry shaver comprises essentially three parts, namelya base member designated generally by the reference character I0, a movable cutting member designated generally by the reference character 30, and a stationary cutting member desnated generally as 50. As herein shown the base member I0 is made integral and of generally rectangular shape and is provided with a central longitudinal passage which forms right and left sides, respectively, IIR and IIL (which serve as guards, as will be more fully described). Within this longitudinal passage of the base member I is reciprocated the movable cutting member 30, for which purpose the base member is provided with a slideway I2 at the bottom of the central longitudinal passage (best shown in Figure 3). The movable cutting member 30 is provided with an elongated dependent lug 32 which is received in the said slideway I2 of the base member for sliding movement therein. Centrally located in the said dependent lug 32 is a keyway 32a, the function of which is to operatively connect the movable cutting member with an operating member such as a drive spindle (not shown) so that the rotation of the drive spindle Will cause the movable cutting member 30 to be reciprocated back and forth in the said slideway I2 of the base member. It will be noted (best from Figure 4) that the said dependent lug 32 is somewhat shorter at both ends than the movable cutting member itself (the purpose of which will soon appear).

The movable cutting member 3U is provided at its upper central portion with a longitudinal channelway 33, in which is received a bridge piece 53 of the stationary cutting member 50 (the bridge piece, from which project cutting teeth, will be more fully described hereinafter); the movable cutting member reciprocates with the sides of its channelway in sliding engagement with the bridge piece of the stationary cutting member.

The cutting member 50 is secured to the base member I0 by means of a leg provided at each end of the cutting member, the one at the right end being designated 54R and the one at the left 54L, which are received in slots, IIR and I4L, respectively, provided at both ends of the base member I0. The stationary cutting member may be secured to the base member in any suitable manner, for example, by bolts or dowel pins 65B. and 65L (Figure 4) which pass through holes, respectively ISR and ISR', and I5L and ISL', in the base member and through the holes 55R and 55L in the respective legs of the stationary cutting member. (It was above mentioned that the dependent lug 32 of the movable cutting member terminated short of the ends of the cutting member itself; the reason for this is to provide and to permit them to be received in the said end slots of the base member.) It is thus seen that the movable cutting member, or rather its dependent lug 32, is reciprocated between the two end lugs of the stationary 'cutting member and that the length of the dependent lug is made smaller than the distance between the two legs by an amount depending upon the extent of the reciprocation required to be imparted to the movable outing member.

As a result of the construction thus far described, the movable cutting member is confined and guided in its reciprocation by firstly, the

. reception of the dependent lug of the movable member, is, in large measure, sheathed from direct contact with the face by the stationary cutting member. I have discovered that the shaving operation is rendered more effective by inclining the face engaging surface from both longitudinal edges so as to intersect in a medial line. designated X--X in Figure 4, thus forming a cup or cavity as shown in Figure 3. I have found that this cup or depression improves the shaving operation for reasons which are not clear; however, it is thought that, either by reason of suction created in the passage of the razor across the face or by reason of the flexibility of the skin and its spreading eifect caused by the cup or depression, a closer and smoother shave is possible.

Both the movable cutting member 30 and the stationary cutting member 50 are provided with teeth whichcoact to shear 01T the hair, the teeth of the movable cutting member 30 being designated by the reference character 36 and the teeth of the stationary cutting member, by reference characer 56. The cooperating cutting members may be provided with teeth along one edge of the appliance, in which case it will shave only in one direction of movement across the face, or both edges of the appliance may be provided With coacting teeth so that it will shave in either direction of travel over the face; in the accompanying drawings I have implemented my improved dry shaver with teeth along both edges.

As best seen in Figure 3, the top surface 36a of the teeth of the movable cutting member is in direct contact with the nether side 56a of the stationary cutting member, the shaving being performed by a shearing operation at this interface by the relative movement between the two sets of teeth. The nether side 56a of the teeth of the upper stationary cutter is beveled at substantially the same angle, thus forming the said shaving interface at the said predetermined angle. Also, as seen in Figure 3, the lower side of the teeth 36 of the movable cutter is beveled or undercut. As is well understood, in moving the razor across the face, the hairs are positioned in the space between the teeth of the cutting members and, as the cutting edges of the teeth of the movable member reciprocate past the other set of teeth, the hairs are sheared off at the interface 36u- 56a (Figure 3).

To protect the face from direct vcontact with the outer edges of the two sets of teeth guard member IIL (left) and IIR (right) are provided in advance of the cutting teeth. As best seen in Figure 4, the guard members are an integral part of the base member, and, more particularly, are formed by the two sides defining the central passage of the base member. bers are slotted to form teeth, the hair passing therebetween to reach the spaces between the cutting teeth. To permit the cut hairs to be freely discharged and to prevent them from clogging the cutting and other moving parts a hole or holes IR and ISL are provided in the said guard members. 'I'he inner edge of the guard member may be spaced from the cutting edge Y of the coacting cutting teeth, as shown in Figure 3 or the cutting inner edge of the guard member may be in direct contact with the edge of the coacting teeth, as shown in Figure 8 and designated Y'. I have found that by giving the guard teeth the shape and contour shown in Figure (and also Figures 3 and 8) that the shaving qualities of the razor are greatly en- The guard memhanced and improved and have found almost equally good results by the use of the shape of guard teeth shown in Figures 6 and 7.

An enlarged detail view of the formation of the face engaging stationary cutting member 50 is shown in Figure 9 in which is also seen the peculiar construction of the teeth 56 thereof. As has already been described, the top surfaces a and a of the teeth are downwardly inclined from both edges and meet in the medial line X-X to form the cup or depression in the face engaging member. The bottom surfaces b-b are also downwardly inclined from the edges of the teeth but, however, at a greater angle than the aforementioned inclination of the top surfaces. By reason of this difference in inclination the side of the teeth is constructed in the form of an oblique trapezium, the axis thereof pointing upwardly. The axis of the opposed set of teeth are thus inclined to each other to form the cup or depression in the face engaging surface already alluded to. It will be observed, best from Figure 9, that the stationary cutter, or more particularly the operative part thereof, is mainly constituted of teeth and has but a small amount of material, in the medial plane X-X, from which the tceth project upwardly in both directions. This portion constitutes part of the bridge piece 53 and has been referred to above in describing the relationship of the three parts of the razor.

Not only do the upper surfaces a (a) and the nether surface b (b') of the teeth converge toward the distal end c (c) but also the lateral sides Rd and Rd and Ld and Ld of the teeth are inclined to each other. As a result of the inclination of all four sides of the teeth, the distal end c is also in the form of a trapezium, as clearly shown in Figure 9. The facing lateral sides between the teeth, converge downwardly so as to meet at an imaginary line Z. As a result of (l) the said inclination of the lateral sides of the two facing teeth and of (2) the said inclination of the upper and lower surfaces of the teeth, the space between the teeth is of angular formation with the apicial points thereof meeting in the said central portion of the member from which the teeth project upwardly in opposite directions, as already described. It will be further observed that as a result of the various inclinations above described, the lower edges of the teeth dening a space therebetween are closer to each other than are the upper edges thereof; it should be noted that it is the lower edges which are sharpened to form cutting teeth. As a further result of the various inclinations already described, the teeth are shaped as pyramidal frustrums with tapered distal ends.

The proximal ends of the pyramidal teeth lie in the central portion, already mentioned, from which the teeth project upwardly in opposite directions. By this construction the teeth are given a substantial foundation at their bases and cantilever outwardly to their distal points.

As a further result of the construction above described, the top edges of opposed teeth, more particularly, the right side of the opposed teeth, intersect on a point designated N in Figure 9, on the medial line X--X. The corresponding upper edges on the other, or left side, of opposing teeth intersect on the same medial line at point M. It will be observed that the intersecting points M v and N are spaced apart so that an opening or groove connects the space between teeth on one side of the cutting member with the correspond- Examiner ing spaces between the teeth on the opposed side of the member.

Lastly it will be observed from the construction already described. that the bases of the pyramidal teeth on one side of the cutting member, which 5 bases form one side of the central shank portion of the cutting member, touch each other along most of the adjacent sides. That is, as shown in Figure 9, the top portions of the adjacent sides of adjoining teeth bases are discontinuous to provide the opening into the grooves M-N on the top face of the cutting member.

In Figure 2 of the drawings I have shown one arrangement for holding the upper face of the reciprocating cutter in contact with the lower 15 face. This arrangement comprises pins 15 at opposite ends of the stationary cutter and spring pressed thereagainst from below. For this purpose the upper end of the pins 15 pass through openings 13 provided therefore in the member I0 20 and may be received in the depression 16 in the lower surface of the reciprocating cutter, and the lower end of the pin 15 is guided within a spiral spring 11 the spring being held at one end by means not shown and engaging at the other 25 end against the lower surface of the collar 14.

It will be understood that, except for the engagement shown in Figure 2, the pin is otherwise disengaged from the spring and that the intermediate section of the spring is free to ex to permit 30 the pin 15 to swing from side to side with the reciprocation of the cutter 30. The pin floats on the spring 11.

In Figures 6 and 7 I have shown one type of guard tooth Il. The guard tooth IIL in Figures 3 and 5 illustrate another type.

The type shown in Figure 5 presents the advantage that as it contacts with the skin, its action will be a smoother oneand a more effective one, because of the presence of the depressions 10, positioned as each is with reference to the nose 1| and the extension wall 12.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a dry shaver, a face engaging stationary cuttin member comprising a portr' from which teeth proJect outward laterally in opposite directions and` with their outer faces angularly disposed to each other, so as to form a concave face-engaging surface.

2. In a. dry shaver, a concave face engaging member having oppositely projecting and oppositely inclined lateral portions, the top surfaces of which intersect in a medial line and slots running inwardly from the outer edges of said lateral portions so as to form outwardly projecting teeth.

3. In a shaving device: a shear plate having a concave upper surface formed by two angularly disposed planes meeting in a line, and slots running transversely to said line, each of said slots having its side walls formed by planes diverging upwardly and said slots being bounded at their lower midportions by a wall, each of said slots decreasing in depth outwardly from said wall and cutting edges provided along the lower edges of the side walls of said slots.

4. In a dry shaver a shear plate having a face engaging surface formed by two angularly related planes meeting in a line intermediate the side edges of the shear plate, said line being positioned below the level of said side edges and said surface being broken up into .teeth by slots extending transversely of said line, the walls of 15 each of the said slots being constituted by a pair of planes disposed in upwardly divergent relation and the Walls of said slots having cutting edges provided along their lower portions.

5. In a dry shaver: a 4'central solid member and a shear plate mounted over said centralmember and comprising portions extending laterally of said central member, and each of said portions having a flat face engaging surface, and the face engaging surfaces of said respective portions being inclined to each other at a relatively slight angle, and said portions tapering outwardly from said central member, and slots running transversely across said shear plate and dividing it into teeth, said slots having their lateral walls bounded by a pair of outwardly diverging planes.

GODFREY DALKOWITZ. 

